Abstract: A board game and methods of playing a board game are described herein. The board game involves the movement of a game piece based upon the generation of a random number. The game piece is moved until the movement causes a win or loss scenario, which may be conducive to gambling and making wagers. During the movement of the game piece, the bank may inchoately match the player's wager. The inchoate “cargo” excites, tempts, and entices the players to wager and increase player involvement.

Abstract: A high temperature pressure transducer includes an extended tubular member having an opening from a front to a back surface. The tubular member is preferably fabricated from a metal. At the front end of the tubular member is a ceramic sensor face or tip which basically is a ceramic disk having a curved front surface and having an extending stem and which is inserted into the front opening of the tubular member. The column is of a given length and terminates in a back end. The back end has a predetermined portion which consists of two flat surfaces each on opposite sides. The back end containing the flat surfaces is thinner than the thickness of the column. On these flat surfaces are positioned suitable semiconductor piezoresistors. When a force is applied to the ceramic sensor face, it is transmitted axially through the tube or column where it is received by the sensors positioned on the flats. The sensors produce an output indicative of the force applied.

Abstract: A board game and methods of playing a board game are described herein. The board game involves the movement of a game piece based upon the generation of a random number. The game piece is moved until the movement causes a win or loss scenario, which may be conducive to gambling and making wagers. During the movement of the game piece, the bank may inchoately match the player's wager. The inchoate “cargo” excites, tempts, and entices the players to wager and increase player involvement.

Abstract: A variation on roulette, craps, sic bo, the big wheel or any other casino game of no-skill using randomization without replacement and methods of playing variations on such games as described herein. The variation involves normal play of the underlying game. Additional play is made possible due to the method laid out within this document. Additional bets whose outcomes depend on more than one spin/roll are available, and the player is given the option of doubling up after seeing a number(s) just spun/rolled. Thus an element of skill is added to the otherwise purely “luck-driven” play of the underlying game. Underlying games may be themselves variations of other games.

Abstract: Composition and process for treating aluminum, aluminum alloys and anodized aluminum substrates to improve the corrosion resistance and adhesive bonding strength of the aluminum substrates. The process comprises pre- or post-treating said aluminum with an acidic aqueous solution comprising, per liter of solution, from about 0.1 to 22 grams of at least one fluorometallate, about 0.1 gram up to the solubility limit of a water soluble cationic or divalent zinc compound and, optionally, effective amounts of water soluble thickeners and/or surfactants.

Abstract: Compositions and process for post-treating aluminum and aluminum alloy coated steel substrates to improve the corrosion resistance and adhesive bonding strength of the aluminum coated substrates. The composition comprises treating the aluminum or aluminum alloy coated steel substrates with an acidic aqueous solution comprising, per liter of solution, from about 0.1 to 22 grams of a hexafluorozirconate, from about 0.1 gram up to the solubility limit of a water soluble cationic zinc compound and, optionally, effective amounts of water soluble thickeners and/or surfactants.

Abstract: Composition and process for coating ferrous alloys to improve the corrosion resistance and adhesive bonding strength of the alloys. The process comprises using the composition for treating the ferrous alloys such as steel with an acidic aqueous solution comprising, per liter of solution, from about 0.1 to 22 grams of hexafluorozirconates, effective amounts of at least one water soluble divalent zinc compound, and 0.0 to 10 grams of water soluble thickeners and/or water soluble surfactants.

Abstract: An underlying card game is played with an initial wager by a player on the underlying game and an optional wager on a higher-order outcome of the probabilities involved in the underlying game can be made. Specifically, the optional wager involves the likelihood of a player having the optimal initial set of cards given other cards that are ultimately involved in play of the underlying game.

Abstract: A high temperature pressure transducer includes a extended tubular member having a opening from a front to a back surface. The tubular member is preferably fabricated from a metal. At the front end of the tubular member is a ceramic sensor face or tip which basically is a ceramic disk having a curved front surface and having a extending stem which inserted into the front opening of the tubular member. The column is of a given length and terminates in a back end. The back end has a predetermined portion which consists of two flat surfaces each on opposite sides. The back end containing the flat surfaces is thinner than the thickness of the column. On these flat surfaces are positioned suitable semiconductor piezoresistors. When a force is applied to the ceramic sensor face, it is transmitted axially through the tube or column where it is received by the sensors positioned on the flats. The sensors produce an output indicative of the force applied. The sensors may be arranged in a suitable bridge configuration.

Abstract: Process of coating iron alloys to improve the corrosion resistance and adhesive bonding strengths. The process comprises treating the iron or iron alloys such as steel with an acidic aqueous solution comprising, per liter of solution, from about 0.01 to 22 grams of a water soluble trivalent chromium compound, about 0.01 to 12 grams of hexafluorozirconate, at least one tetrafluoroborate and/or hexafluorosilicate, at least one water soluble divalent zinc compound and from 0.0 to 10 grams of water soluble thickeners and/or water soluble surfactants.

Abstract: By using techniques for near field probes to measure dielectric values of blanket films, the measure of the sidewall damage of the patterned structure is calculated. The interaction between the near field probe and the etched structure is modeled to obtain the model total capacitance. The near field microwave probe is calibrated on a set of blanket films with different thicknesses, and the dielectric constant of the etched trench structure is calculated using the measured frequency shift and calibration parameters. The measured capacitance is further calculated for the etched trench structure using the dielectric constant and the total thickness of the etched trench structure. The effective dielectric constant of the structure under study is extracted where the model capacitance is equal to the measured capacitance. The measure of the sidewall damage is further calculated using the effective dielectric constant.

Abstract: A measurement technique based on a microwave near-field scanning probe is developed for non-contact measurement of dielectric constant of low-k films. The technique is non-destructive, non-invasive and can be used on both porous and non-porous dielectrics. The technique is based on measurement of resonant frequency shift of the near-field microwave resonator for a plurality of calibration samples vs. distance between the probe tip and the sample to construct a calibration curve. Probe resonance frequency shift measured for the sample under study vs. tip-sample separation is fitted into the calibration curve to extract the dielectric constant of the sample under study. The calibration permits obtaining a linear calibration curve in order to simplify the extraction of the dielectric constant of the sample under study.

Abstract: A method and system for non-contact measurements of microwave capacitance of miniature structures patterned on wafers used for production of modern integrated circuits. A near-field balanced two-conductor probe is brought into close proximity to a test key built on a wafer of interest and replicating the miniature structure of interest. The resonant frequency of the probe for the test key is measured. The probe is then positioned at the same distance from an “open” calibration key and “short” calibration key, and the resonance frequencies of the probe for the calibration keys are measured. A shear force distance control mechanism maintains the distance between the tip of the probe and the measured test key and calibration keys. The microwave capacitance of the test key is then calculated in accordance with a predefined formula.

Abstract: A board game and methods of playing a board game are described herein. The board game involves the movement of a game piece based upon the generation of a random number. The game piece is moved until the movement causes a win or loss scenario, which may be conducive to gambling and making wagers. During the movement of the game piece, the bank may inchoately match the player's wager. The inchoate “cargo” excites, tempts, and entices the players to wager and increase player involvement.

Abstract: An object routing system includes a sensor, a processor and a guide. The sensor detects a characteristic of an object and generates a signal that indicates that characteristic. The processor receives the signal from the sensor and generates a guide control signal based upon the signal from the sensor. The guide is responsive to the guide control signal to route the object. The processor can be programmed to control the guides to route the objects in any desired manner.

Abstract: A remotely reconfigurable switching network including an N×N Benes switch having a plurality of stages of beta networks. The Benes switch is separated into a left half section and a right half section, with one of the sections having one less stage of beta networks than the other section. An additional stage of beta networks is connected to the section having one less stage of beta networks so that the stages of beta networks in the left and right half sections mirror one another. At least one attachment device is interposed between the left and right half sections. An adjunct device is connected to the attachment device to provide additional service simultaneously with original service. The remotely reconfigurable switching network requires less nodes and thus, is less costly and takes up less space than conventional switching networks.

Abstract: A database management system for the creation and management of relational data over a network. The database management system includes one or more remote or local database storage facilities and a database server computer executing a database server application that manages access to one or more database storage facilities through the network. The server computer is in communication with the one or more remote or local database storage facilities. The database management system further has a computer workstation in communication with the server computer, wherein the computer workstation executes a remote accessing program in the form of a web browser to access via the server computer data stored in the one or more remote database storage facilities.

Abstract: The aerial terminal has a tray assembly having zero, one, or more holes for paired-conductor drop wires, as well as one or more converter holes for converters (e.g., baluns), each of which allows signals over an additional conductor pair to be converted and sent through a coaxial-cable drop wire. The tray assembly enables the aerial terminal to be used to distribute to customers both communication signals and broadband signals carried by a multi-wire distribution cable. In a preferred embodiment, the tray assembly of the present invention is designed to replace the grommet trays of prior-art Flexterm.RTM. 5000 Aerial Terminals by Lucent Technology, Inc., that are already in service, without disturbing any of the connections between the distribution cable and the terminal block of the existing aerial terminal.

Abstract: In a communications arrangement, a copper wire pair arrangement traditionally used to provide a plain old telephone service (POTS) is also used to provide an asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) service. To that end, a patch cord in accordance with the invention is used to re-arrange communications connections in a terminal where both POTS channel unit and ADSL channel unit are deployed. Advantageously, the combined service is efficiently realized by such a re-arrangement, with the existing POTS virtually uninterrupted.

Abstract: A linked list of items in a sorted order is created and stored in memory. In addition to the linked list of items, an auxiliary array is also created and stored in memory. The auxiliary array contains pointers to a subset of items from the linked list. When a request is received to locate a particular item in the linked list, a binary search is first performed on the pointers stored in the auxiliary array. The result of this search provides a pointer for accessing an entry-point item on the linked list. The entry-point item is either the particular item or is an item that precedes the particular item in the linked list. The linked list is then traversed from the entry-point item rather than from a starting pointer (i.e., head) until the particular item is accessed.